RomanPunks is a retrofuturistic, cyberpunk derivative world-building project inspired by fine art, history and the cryptopunk movement.
A total of 1,000 RomanPunk characters have been frozen in time and minted as Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum, WAX, Polygon and Algorand blockchains.
RomanPunk characters are comprised of commoners and famous individuals based on Roman history, art history and pop culture.
The basis for RomanPunk lore and backstories is exhaustively researched by history/sci-fi buff and co-founder, Punktavian.
All images are drawn by hand by woman artist and co-founder, Cleopunktra, without the aid of AI or generative tools.
RomanPunks came into existence through early minting on OpenSea, promoting on Twitter and building a Discord community through giveaways and engagement. The idea of a cyberpunk-derivative ‘RomanPunk’ theme was in our heads for years, but it was the success of the Cryptopunks that became the catalyst for project conception and launch.
After a hard working first 60 days spent networking and attracting new collectors to RomanPunks, our community had begun to flourish and sales increased. We began to offer our collectors an opportunity to battle their NFTs in a tournament bracket powered by dice rolls.
Encouraged by the tight knit community and the carbon-neutral blockchain with lightning fast and low cost transactions, we launched 'romanpunksio' collection on WAX Blockchain as the first step to expand the backstories of our RomanPunk characters and the baseline for future development of a card game.
RomanPunks integrated with Chainlink Labs to utilize VRF (Verified Randomness Function) to host a giveaway raffle for our holders. We developed a smart contract on Ethereum which guarantees true random number selection on chain and can be used for a wide range of functions that require random selection.
After much anticipation in the community, we released our first WAX NFT card 'pack' through the Neftyblocks platform, which sold out in less than a week.
We launched our Twitch channel and begun building an audience by offering numerous giveaways of WAX NFTs from our collection, as well as giving participants a chance to win RomanPunk ETH NFT airdrops for taking top spot at the end of the 'season'.
As firm believers in a metaverse future and land owners in The Sandbox, we undertook to build the RomanPunk Colosseum on 1x1 land and entered our experience "Gladiator Bloodsport" into a GameJam contest. We will continue to build the Colosseum into a PVP arena and social hub once The Sandbox offers creators the ability to do so.
Thanks to the user friendly tools offered by NeftyBlocks, we launched a comprehensive blending system on WAX, allowing our collectors to blend the common NFTs they earn in our Discord RPG up into Legendary famous NFTs through the use of blending 'coins' that can also be earned on the Discord as reward for helping to promote the RomanPunks project.
We launched the VX collection on Polygon. Each owner of an ETH NFT gets their voxel equivalent airdropped to them, and these NFTs can be redeemed for official NFTs on The Sandbox Marketplace once available.
All 1,000 original, unique 1:1 RomanPunk characters hand drawn by Cleopunktra and minted on OpenSea.
The RomanPunk WAX NFT Trading Card Fighter Pack Series II consists of 3 NFTs randomly selected from over 236 characters.
Upcoming plans for RomanPunks include:
Below is a comprehensive and searchable directory of all 1,000 RomanPunk Characters.
Born 1113 AD in Cemenelum in an alternate steampunk dimension, Marina is a wreck diver and sailor on the Aqua Aeterna, the world’s first steam-powered submarine, whose mission is to find the lost city of Atlantis. Guided by the clues left by Plato and Seneca, the ship’s crew ventured into the Aztec Gulf, where Marina uncovered an interdimensional portal nestled on the ocean floor.
Born in 242 AD in Mediolanum, Alexa Servilianus quickly rose through the ranks of Emperor Aurelian’s legion in Germany after stepping into a dimension portal in Lake Como and returning equipped and skilled with the lightsaber.
Born in 202 BC in Carthage, Zibqet is an illegitimate child of the Roman General Scipio Africanus. Her natural fighting talents brought her to the legion along with her sister Elissa. The two eventually went AWOL through a dimensional portal and flourished as vigilantes in a 22nd century dystopian megacity.
Born in 295 AD in Tarraco, Spain, Sisera Hispaniola, a convicted murderer, was sent to the gladiator pits as punishment, where he found great success. Fearing his rise in popularity, Emperor Constantine had Sisera thrust into a dimensional portal where he continued to dominate the colosseum in a distant future timeline.
Born in 404 AD in Corduba, Alaviv Goar, illegitimate son of King Genseric, fought bravely with the Vandal hordes as they sacked Africa, but was later forced to live a life of exile as a gladiator in the colosseum of Thysdrus in Carthage.
Born 50 BC in Gordium, as a young woman Xyria was kidnapped by time traffickers to serve as a hostess in a 26th century karaoke bar in Neo-Byzantium where she learned how to make a living trading secrets.
Born 197 BC in Nikonion, Joe was born a slave, toiling in the vast wheat fields of the steppe until one day he saved his master’s life by killing a Pontic magistrate who had come to arrest and execute him for tax evasion. Freed, now Joe lives life on the run.
“Born in 235 AD in Palmyra, Maco Kishar was whisked into a dimensional portal by his sister, the priestess Bel Kishar, to battle as a cybergladiator rather than face the wrath of the conquering Emperor Aurelian.”
Born 277 AD in Petra, Ruth was sentenced to death for sacrificing children to Pluto. She opted to die by glory and face an impossibly difficult opponent to the death in the gladiator arena.
Born in 507 AD in the shadow of Carthage, Zeno is celebrated not for valour in battle but for his deft avoidance of it. A slacker and draft dodger, he shirked military duties, only to be caught in the Byzantine tide that brutally sacked his city. Seized by Belisarius’s legions, he was dispatched to the endless hemp fields of North Africa, a punishment he secretly relishes.
Born in 51 AD in Virunum, Acca, the daughter of a Roman general and a servant woman, was raised in the Second Legion and became a fiercely loyal soldier for the Flavian Emperors. It is said that Acca died attempting to prevent the assassination of Domitian.
Born 122 AD in Augustodunum, Corio was a renowned blacksmith for the Roman legion until he was kidnapped by alien cyborgs and sent through an interdimensional portal to the 28th century AD where he is condemned to fight as a gladiator in a futuristic cybercolosseum.
Born in 353 BC in the once mighty kingdom of Phrygia, Gordi welcomed the invasion of Alexander the Great, following his conquests through Asia and Egypt where he fell into a dimensional portal and became pressed into the service of a demonic army from a distant time and place.
Born 88 BC in Philippopolis, Rhys was a slave who joined forces with Spartacus during the Third Servile War, but fled through an interdimensional portal at the Temple of Hera in Paestum to the 1980s AD where he became a roadie for the thrash metal band, Pontifex Maximus.
Born 3973 AD on an unknown planet in an unknown star system from an unknown galaxy, Ziggus emerged in the 2nd century AD to a Roman world ravaged by vampires and zombies and helped inspire the people to valour through poetry and song.
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romanpunks@protonmail.ch
Registered in Ontario, Canada
